“Gather with intention, gather with intention to multiply our possibilities of being in relation with one another, big and small, and by that really allowing for the emergence of repair and re-imaginings. We are hurt in relation to ourselves and one another, but we also heal in relation.” Lily Kather
E252 – The Radical Act of Staying Soft // Grief as a Portal of Possibility with the Emergent Justice Collective
Listen to the conversation:
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About this interview:
What does it take to stay human, together, when everything asks us to harden?
In this episode, Amisha sits in tender conversation with the Emergent Justice Collective held by Lisa, Lily, and Val, three transformative justice practitioners, grief workers, and embodiment activists who are visioning a different way of being with justice in the movement towards collective liberation.
As we witness deepening crises around us, the impulse of so many of us can be to turn towards formal systems of power to demand accountability. But Lisa, Lily, and Val offer us something more. After spending years within these systems, they found themselves longing for an approach that moves beyond binaries of good and bad into ones that repair cycles of harm and embody anti-colonial visions of justice.
We explore:
:: Decolonizing from legal and justice frameworks
:: Gathering with intention and healing in relationship
:: Self-accountability as a cornerstone for our justice movements
:: Creating communities of care and shared responsibility
:: Grief as a portal into the possibility of collective liberation.
In this episode, we remind ourselves that we have the power to reclaim our response in the face of a burning world.
This episode is made in partnership with The Radicals – a storytelling initiative powered by the Guerilla Foundation that explores contemporary radicalism, reclaims what it means to be radical, showcases the diverse faces of root-cause activism worldwide and tells fuckin’ inspiring & authentic stories that are meant to reframe activists, uproot misconceptions & reroute rebellions.
The Emergent Justice Collective is a group of transformative justice practitioners, grief workers and embodiment activists who are in the process of unlearning and shedding the colonial framing and roots of their legal training. They came together to embody justice by healing from and practicing self-accountability around their entanglements in systems of oppression and by caring for their collective exits from institutions and cultures reproducing such systems.
Alexandra Lily Kather (they/-) is co-founder of the Emergent Justice Collective. They advise multilateral, governmental and non-governmental accountability actors on investigation and prosecution strategies relating to core international crimes, including their intersectional dimensions, and works to strengthen decolonial feminist approaches in international justice.
Lisa-Marie Rudi (she/her) established the Emergent Justice collective to address flaws in the international justice system. In her work with the EJC, she helps create and facilitate spaces for collective care and transformative practices.She is a co-author of the paper “Towards a Counterculture of International Justice,” which discusses transforming international justice approaches to be more community-centered and transformative.
Val (Valentina) Azarova (they/-) is a researcher and practitioner centring movement law, transformative justice and trauma-informed approaches to international and interpersonal violence. Valentina is a member of the Feminist Autonomous Centre for Research collective and a co-founder and member of the de:border // migration justice collective and of the Emergent Justice Collective.
To connect with Emergent Justice Collective, visit www.emergentjusticecollective.org
To connect or work with Amisha, visit www.amisha.co.uk
Links from this episode:
- Guerrilla Foundation
- The Radicals
- Sarah Ihmoud on Decolonial Love as part of Palestinian Feminisms (and other resources in the Un/learning Palestine – Embodied Co-learning space and Resource Bundles
- Devin George Atallah in Conversation with Adrienne Maree Brown on Palestinian Grief and Undying Liberation
- Queers in Palestine, From Palestine to the World: October 2024
- Palestinian Feminist Collective, Reviving Third World
- Tobi Ayé’s Offerings on Colonial Grief and Ancestral Responsibility
- Cara Page and Erica Woodland and others, Healing Justice Lineages Book and Archive
- Gwendolyn Brook, Paul Robeson Poem
- Malkia Devich-Cyril, Grief Belongs in Social Movements. Can We Embrace It?
- Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba, Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care and Workbook (Free to Download)
- Listen to E248 with Teresa Machado and Nat Skoczylas on Activism, Solidarity and Redistribution // Reclaiming Radicalism
- Featured artwork by Ashima via Cosmos
Connect more with us:
- Join our membership, the Rhythm
- Reclaim Your Intuition. A Beautiful Learning Journey
- Book a One-to-One session with Amisha
- Amisha’s book INTUITION: Access your inner wisdom. Trust your instincts. Find your path.
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